


Snowed In

by eternity_in_my_pocket



Series: Winter Tropes 2018 [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Snowed In, Superstitions, Winter Tropes, blanket pile cuddling, knock on wood, lots of sass, weak first kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 03:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16926006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternity_in_my_pocket/pseuds/eternity_in_my_pocket
Summary: Bucky has a way of jinxing a bad situation into an even worse one. Good thing is: Steve has a warm apartment and has invited his boyfriend and roommate over to stay?





	Snowed In

**Author's Note:**

> It SNOWED where I live - finally! So I thought it would be the perfect time to get this out. I know the deadline I set for myself for the [Winter Trope Bingo Challenge](https://eternity-in-my-pocket.tumblr.com/post/180362943864/its-almost-that-time-of-year-my-favorite-time) is tomorrow. I think I said this with the last fic I posted, but after the deadline is over for this challenge (as well as because of everything going on w/ tumblr right now, combined with the fact that my fics don't get read there anyways...) I'm going to post my stories solely over here. I'm going to keep writing my way through the BINGO card I made (see above link) either until I mark off all the boxes, or get tired of writing winter fics - whichever comes first. Thank you all for reading. I've had fun, and the comments make it worth it to know that you're enjoying the fluff as much as I am. Write what you love, right?
> 
> Anyways, here ya go. Unbeta’d, as usual. This checks the boxes for: **“The heat isn’t working” ; “Great, the power’s off” ; snowed in ; blanket pile cuddling ;** and **“You look cute when you’re cold”**

“FUUUUUUUCK.”

Natasha heard her roommate yell from across the apartment. She’d bundled up in everything she could get her hands on when it was still dark and had at least one undershirt, two overshirts and two sweaters on where she was currently huddled underneath a heap of blankets. The temperature had dropped during the night and she and Bucky had both woken up freezing. Rather than try and fix the problem in the dark, they had cacooned together in Natasha’s double-sized bed and attempted to stay warm until morning.

She poked her head out of the blanket pile and called back, “VERDICT?”

Bucky shuffled back into the room, wrapped in a blanket shroud – one he’d donned when she made him get out of their blanket cave to put in a maintenance request. “Repair guy’s out of town. Landlord said that he could get someone but, with the temp like it is and everyone’s heat crapping out, the earliest he can get someone is _maybe_ tomorrow.”

Natasha groaned and pulled the blankets back over her head as she felt Bucky lie down on the bed and nestle back in. She pulled the blanket closer to her face so her breath would warm her cheeks. “We can’t stay here with no heat, Barnes. I mean, we _can_ but if it gets any colder tonight the pipes will freeze and there goes our running water. Do we know if anyone else in our building is having this problem?”

Bucky scooted closer, “You know damn well I haven’t been outside. Plus we don’t _know_ anyone else in this building.”

Natasha rolled over and faced Bucky, she was about to pull out the big guns and put on her pitiful face and shiver like a frozen kitten, “What about Steve?”

Bucky blinked. Steve didn’t even live on their _block_ , “What about him?”

“Is his heater working?”

“I can’t just invite the both of us over! That’s rude. And I’ve only known the guy what – three weeks?”

“Do you _want_ me to shove my freezing feet down your pants?”

Bucky glared at her and reached down into his hoodie to get his phone.

x x x

Bucky was _very_ grateful that Steve only lived a fifteen minute walk from his and Natasha’s apartment. Since they didn’t _really_ know how long their heat would be out and Steve was so generous to let them come over, insisting they weren’t inviting themselves ( _“Do you really think I’m going to let you guys fucking freeze? Get your butts over here.”_ ) Bucky and Nat brought their backpacks full of clothes, as well as both arms each loaded with groceries from their fridge and pantry as thanks.

When Steve opened the door he quickly ushered them in and they stripped off their soggy, snowy clothes and warmed up by the heating vents. Bucky took a look around and couldn’t help but think that Steve’s apartment was as cute as it’s tenant. He had a modest little place, but filled it with books on shelves and art on the walls. There was a decent sized TV and a _very_ squishy looking couch that Bucky absolutely could not _wait_ to cuddle with Steve on. Would he get cuddle time with Natasha being here, too? Was Steve even weird about PDA? They hadn’t even kissed yet and here he was thinking about basically rolling around on the couch with the guy.

Natasha nudged Bucky out of his thoughts, as Steve approached with mugs of hot chocolate.

“You really didn’t have to bring food with you.” Steve said, handing them each a cup.

Steve had only talked to Natasha a few times before, and he wasn’t quite sure what to think of her just yet, but he wasn’t that surprised when she quipped, “Bucky, tell your boyfriend he’s being dumb. Of course we did.”

“You can say it yourself you know.” Bucky reached eagerly for the cup and thanked Steve, but repeated anyways, blush tinting his cheeks, “Of course we had to bring food.”

Steve rolled his eyes, “Well, stay as long as you need to. Obviously. I’ve got plenty of blankets, we’ve got plenty of food now, I don’t have an extra bed because it’s just me but we can make a bed on the floor...”

“As long as your heater keeps working I’m _so_ fine with sleeping on the floor.” Bucky took a sip of his drink and melted into the couch, eyes practically rolling back into his head.

“You better knock on wood Barnes, I’m not in the mood for that kind of talk.” Natasha elbowed Bucky when he didn’t move, “I’m serious, knock on the fucking table.”

Bucky only rolled his eyes again.

Xxx

Bucky groaned and Steve called across the room, “Natasha was right, Buck!”

“I fucking _told_ you!”

“Great, the power is off. It’s definitely off.” Steve sighed and shuffled back to where Nat and Bucky had made themselves a nest on the floor. “So much for avoiding superstitions.”

After Bucky and Nat had arrived earlier in the morning, they’d bummed around all day in the warm and watched movies, snacking and – in Steve’s case – getting to know each other more. Around three it had started to snow – only lightly – but within the hour it was a whiteout. Steve wasn’t sure what the case was, he _thought_ that his apartment had a backup generator, but his landlord wasn’t answering his phone calls and the breaker switches weren’t responding. They were lucky; there were still a few daylight hours left and Steve was bad for hoarding candles, so at least they had that going for them.

Steve burrowed under a blanket next to Bucky to get warm. “So if we have to we can put the milk and stuff out on the fire escape in the snow to keep it cold. We have plenty of food to eat. I guess we just need to worry about staying warm and not being bored to death.”

Bucky feigned offense, “How dare you say we’re boring.”

“Yeah! You should know by now we’re the life of the party, Rogers.” Natasha retorted, tossing one of the small couch pillows at Steve’s head.

Steve quickly ducked and snuggled back in to Bucky’s side. Natasha cast them an exasperated glance and got up to go to the bathroom. “I swear, you two are too cute. It’s disgusting.”

“When I see you with Clint, I’ll be sure to say the same thing!” Bucky called after her, laughing when she flipped him off.

With Natasha momentarily gone, Bucky’s heart lept into his throat. God, if he could just get _one_ kiss in while they were snowed in --- Steve nuzzled his head into Bucky’s shoulder and curled in on himself and Bucky couldn’t help but wrap his arm around the smaller man. 

“Thanks again for letting us stay over.”

Steve glanced up at Bucky through his eyelashes and raised an eyebrow, “I couldn’t let you freeze Buck.”

Bucky barked a laugh, “Yeah, and look what happened. I brought the power outage with me.”

“Yeah, well. At least we can huddle for warmth.”

“I can think of a few other things we could do.” Bucky watched Steve’s lips as the curled up into a smile, and couldn’t help but lick his own. God, if they didn’t freeze in the night, there were so many things he wanted to do to the blond.

The moment was ruined though, for when there was a knock on the door, Steve jumped up to answer. 

“Steve!”

“Mr. H, I tried to call you!”

“You and probably about everyone else in this building. I decided to come down and see how everyone is fairing for myself – do you have blankets? Flashlights? Food?”

Steve opened the door wider so Mr. H could come in. The landlord wasn’t surprised to see extra people in the apartment – almost every other tenant had accommodated neighbors in this hellstorm, too. “I’ve got extra upstairs if you need anything?” He prodded again.

“No, we’re good. Any idea when the power will be back on though? My friends lost heat this morning and it was the only reason we’re all here.”

“I have no idea. Whole block is powered down as far as I can tell. If you’ve got everything, I’m gonna check the neighbors. I’ll come check on you in the morning, but if you need anything you just come knock okay Steven?”

“Yes, Mr H.” 

Steve closed the door and clapped his hands together to get them warm and raced back over to the blanket. The moment was ruined, but there were bound to be more before the heating situation got fixed.

Xxx

For dinner they snacked on PopTarts and milk, eating by candlelight in their blanket pile by the couch. Steve had initially planned to leave Natasha and Bucky to themselves in the living room when it was time to hit the sack. Now that the power was out though, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to sleep alone in his drafty bedroom. He wasn’t going to bring it up though. He was going to wait until the question presented itself. While they ate, they took turns telling stories. With the candles lit, it was the perfect backdrop for stories and it reminded Steve of camping. Except Colder.

“Alright, your turn to tell a story Barnes.” Natasha finished. 

As the night wore on, Steve started to feel himself dropping down. He tried to stay up, laying down and snuggling up under a blanket, trying to add to the conversation when he could but mostly just listening. Soon enough, he started to drift off, the sound of Bucky’s voice lulling him down into dreamland.

When Steve woke up – who knows how long later – he was momentarily startled and panicked because he couldn’t move. The panic subsided though when he realized he was just covered under a pile of blankets. He knew he needed to get up and move to his room to leave Bucky and Natasha alone, so, reluctantly, he sleepily tried to untangle himself from the mass of covers.

Bucky’s groggy voice cracked beside him, “Where’ya going Stevie?”

Steve was too tired to blush at the new – albeit cute – nickname. Instead, he mumbled, “I’m gonna leave you alone to sleep.”

Bucky reached out and pulled Steve back down by the hand, covering him back up with the blankets. Bucky’s groggy voice was fooling – he was really wide awake, his voice was only cracking from not having used it since Natasha fell asleep. “You crazy? Stay here. It’s warmer.”

Bucky could see relief wash over Steve’s face in the moonlight as he snuggled back into the blankets and faced Bucky. Steve joked, still half asleep, “I thought it would be a few more weeks until I’d be sleeping with you, but the universe has other plans.”

Bucky fought the urge to pull Steve closer and weave themselves together to keep the smaller man warm. “You been thinking about sleeping with me?”

Steve only hummed. Bucky could see his eyes were already falling shut again, the warmth of the blankets enveloping him like a hug. Bucky tucked the blankets in around his boyfriend and whispered, “You’re cute when you’re cold” giving him a light peck on the forehead. 

Steve hummed, “G’night Buck.”

“Night, Stevie.”

“Buck?”

“Yeah, Steve?”

“I expect better kisses in the morning. That was weak.”

“Go to sleep, Steve.”


End file.
